Qin Tiexin took the two daggers back to the room and placed them on the table.
The dim candlelight reflected the three side-by-side gaps on the blade. He picked up the first one, rubbed the crooked part of the spiritual pattern with his fingertips, and then picked up the second one, feeling the coldness under the perfect strokes.
Uncle Wu's words are still in my ears. "Your weapon refining is just an imitation."
He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the candlelight for a long time. These years flashed through his mind - learning blacksmithing from his grandfather in Ink City, learning to forge weapons from Zhou Cang in the Great Xuan military camp, practicing tirelessly in the Illusory Realm Hall after entering the Liuyun Sect, and groping for smelting spiritual materials and carving spiritual patterns in the Waste Equipment Pavilion.
He thought he had worked very hard.
He only sleeps for one and a half hours every day, practices and studies for ten and a half hours, and adds four hours to the Illusory Realm Hall. He thinks that such dedication is worthy of progress.
But Uncle Wu tore away the layer of self-righteousness with just one word.
The top ten in the competition, the praise from his classmates, the ability to forge half Law Artifact in the weapon refining branch... these made him drifting unconsciously. Even if Zhao Yan and Lin Han scored higher than him, what he was thinking in his heart was "When I improve my cultivation, I will be better than them."
When did you become so arrogant?
Qin Tiexin stood up and walked to the water tank in the corner of the room. The water in the tank had been pumped in the early morning and was already cold. He leaned over, held the edge of the tank with both hands, took a deep breath, and buried his whole head in the water.
Instantly wrapped in ice.
The sound in his ears disappeared, and there was only the muffled sound of water flowing. The air in his lungs gradually decreased, and his chest began to tighten. He did not raise his head immediately, and just held it in until his eyes began to turn black.
Wow--
He raised his head suddenly, and water dropped down his hair and cheeks, dripping on his clothes and spreading into a dark color. He gasped for air, and his chest heaved violently.
Awake.
Qin Tiexin wiped his face and walked to the bronze mirror. The person in the mirror was nineteen years old, but he had the physique of an adult, with broad shoulders and a thick back. There was still a bit of youthfulness between his eyebrows, but his eyes were darkened.
"Qin Tiexin ah Qin Tiexin," he said to the mirror, "When did you become like this?"
After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard.
Snap.
The voice was crisp, and his left cheek hurt. He didn't stop, and slapped him again with his backhand.
Snap.
The right side of my face is also red.
The man in the mirror had red and swollen cheeks, but his eyes were clearer. He turned around and walked to the bed, bent down and pulled out a cloth bag from the bottom of the bed. The cloth was grey-blue, had been washed white, and the corners were frayed.
He opened the cloth bag and found a sword inside.
The sword was three feet long, the scabbard was ordinary, and the leather rope wrapped around the hilt was frayed. He held the hilt and slowly pulled it out.
The sword body was dim, with a few slight chips on the edge, and a few scratches on the spine. From his current perspective, it was a semi-Law Artifact, with a spiritual material content of about eighty-nine, less than 10%. The forging technique was rough and had ordinary sharp spiritual patterns.
This is the sword of Lin Feng.
Qin Tiexin remembers it very clearly. He came to Liuyun Sect initially to find Lin Household, to find Lin Household in Tiannan Territory, and to find the way home that Lin Feng said.
But after entering the sect, he lived a comfortable life, with food and shelter, and the ability to practice and refine weapons. He gradually forgot his original purpose. What he thought about every day was how to improve his cultivation, how to refine a better Law Artifact, and how to get a good ranking in the competition.
I almost lost my original intention.
Qin Tiexin gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, his knuckles turning white.
If it hadn't been for Uncle Wu's words today, "Have you never systematically learned weapon refining?" to point it out, he might still be working behind closed doors, thinking he was on the right path.
With just these words, Master Wu deserves to be treated with courtesy. What's more, there was the tragedy of annihilating his family, and what's more, Master Wu was willing to teach him how to make real weapons.
Grandpa taught me how to repay kindness.
He will never forget.
***
From that day on, Qin Tiexin went directly to Old Wu's stone room after work every day.
Old Wu's teaching method is very strange. On the first day, he asked Qin Tiexin to carve spiritual patterns with his left hand - Qin Tiexin is right-handed, and at first his left hand shook like a leaf in the wind. Old Wu just watched and said nothing until the lines carved by Qin Tiexin's left hand were barely visible.
The next day, Old Wu suddenly coughed loudly while he was carving the spirit pattern. Qin Tiexin's hand shook and the spirit pattern was broken. Old Wu said, "Continue." Qin Tiexin engraved again, and Old Wu coughed again. The third time, Qin Tiexin's hand was steady and the pattern was not broken.
"There are always external interferences." Old Wu said, "The weapon refiner must learn to steady his hands and heart amid interference."
On the third day, Old Wu gave him a piece of Cold Iron and asked him to forge it into a dagger embryo within half an hour and engrave it with sharp lines. Qin Tiexin was sweating profusely and finally completed it before the time limit. Old Wu picked up the dagger, looked at it, and nodded. "It can be used."
Then let him do it again, shortening the time to two quarters of an hour.
Those metal blocks mixed with Guizhen spiritual gold have become the best training materials for Qin Tiexin. He spends an hour every day to carve the same spiritual patterns on different metal blocks. The red copper is soft, so the carving should be light; the black iron is crisp and hard, so you have to start quickly; Cold Iron is cold, so the spiritual energy infusion needs to be continuous...
For the same "solid" pattern, on different materials, there are subtle differences in the depth of the strokes, the urgency of the spiritual power, and the strength of the pen closing. These differences cannot be seen with the eyes, but must be "heard" by the feel of the hand and the feedback of the spiritual power when the fingertips are in contact with the metal.
Old Wu occasionally gives some advice.
"With this stroke, my spiritual power is broken."
"If you close here too quickly, the spiritual patterns will become clogged."
"Feel the 'breathing' of the material, and your spiritual power should resonate with it."
Qin Tiexin Learn little by little.
Half a month later, there was a quiz in the Weapon Refining Branch. Qin Tiexin took the time to take part, and worked out half a Law Artifact in an hour - the blade was straight, the spirit patterns were standard, there were no highlights, and there were no mistakes. The results came out, and they were above average.
The disciple in charge of the assessment looked at him and said, "Are you that handyman from the fifth Spirit Root? Your level of weapon refining is not bad."
Qin Tiexin said nothing, took the spirit crystal and left.
Fifty spiritual crystals are not much, but they are enough for him to eat for three days. He is still very short of money - the medicinal materials needed for body training, Spirit Stone for cultivation, and Jade Slip to buy for study, everything needs spiritual crystals.
After leaving the weapon refining branch, he went to the library and exchanged a hundred spirit crystals for a copy of "Basic Knowledge of Weapon Refining". Jade Slip is very thick. The content ranges from the most basic mineral identification and fire control to the characteristics of spiritual materials and the principles of spiritual patterns. It is systematic and comprehensive.
He needs to lay the foundation again.
After studying with Old Wu for a month, Qin Tiexin was able to forge a low-grade Law Artifact in two hours - from material selection to molding, including carving spiritual patterns. Old Wu saw it and said, "Faster."
Qin Tiexin Grit your teeth and practice.
After another half month, he was able to complete it in one and a half hours. The time was shortened by half an hour, but the quality of Law Artifact has not declined - it is still at a "usable" level. The spiritual pattern is not perfect, but its functions are complete.
Old Wu rarely showed a smile, "Your talent is even higher than mine back then. It's a pity... that your cultivation has hindered you."
Speaking of cultivation, Qin Tiexin has not missed refining qi this month. "Hunyuan Jue" is running every day, and the third cyclone has been completely solidified, about the same size as the previous two. The three cyclones in Dantian are slowly rotating, and the Hunyuan spiritual power is flowing in the meridians.
But there is still no sign of the fourth cyclone being born.
This is the pinnacle of Qi Refining Third Layer. The third to fourth floors are a hurdle, and it is especially difficult for fifth Spirit Root. Qin Tiexin is not in a hurry. He knows that this matter cannot be rushed, and he can only grind it slowly with water.
There are still more than two months until the competition, so there is still enough time.
The progress of body refining far exceeded his expectations.
To temper the bones of his limbs and trunk, he chose a method that was almost self-mutilating - using Edgeless to break his own bones in sequence.
Starting with the right arm, the ulna and the radius. He held the Edgeless, which weighed a thousand kilograms, in his left hand, aimed it at his right forearm, and gritted his teeth and smashed it down.
Click.
The sound of broken bones was clearly audible. Severe pain instantly spread throughout his body, and cold sweat broke out. He groaned, put down the knife, and took out the "Bone Renewal Spirit Paste" - he bought it with spiritual crystals. One bottle costs fifty spiritual crystals and can only be used three times.
The ointment was blue-grey and was applied to the broken bone. The cooling sensation temporarily suppressed the severe pain. He fixed his arm, crossed his legs and performed exercises to guide the medicine to penetrate into the bone.
Three days later, the broken bone healed. The newly grown bone was obviously stronger and denser, with a very light silver sheen on the surface.
Then left arm, left leg, right leg.
Every interruption was heartbreaking pain. But he didn't stop. He broke bones, applied medicine, healed, and broke again. The bones of his limbs became stronger and stronger as they were repeatedly broken and reborn.
In addition to broken bones, there are also weight-bearing impacts.
He tied two thousand kilograms of iron blocks to his legs - cast from scraps found in the Waste Equipment Pavilion. Then he jumped off a three-foot-high cliff in the back mountain.
Bang!
When both feet hit the ground, two shallow pits were made on the ground. The knees and ankles suffered huge impact, and the bones were continuously strengthened by the shock. Jump once, rest for half a quarter of an hour, and then jump again. Jump thirty times a day.
Tonight, one month later, the last segment of the left arm bone has been tempered.
Qin Tiexin stood in the courtyard, the moonlight shining on him. He moved his limbs slowly, and his bones and joints made a subtle "crackling" sound, like the sound of bamboo bursting.
He raised his right hand and made a fist. Under the skin of his arm, the bones glowed with silver light - not the light visible to the naked eye, but the faint light seen when looking inside with spiritual power. That was a sign that the bone tempering was completed.
The peak of the fifth level of body refining.
He took out a low-grade Law Artifact dagger - he made it himself, with the sharp lines intact. He pointed it at his left forearm and slashed hard.
Stab--
The blade scratched the skin, leaving a white mark without breaking the skin.
With more force, the blade pressed half an inch into the flesh, and finally made a gash. However, the wound was very shallow, and blood stopped as soon as it seeped out. A small gap opened on the blade.
Qin Tiexin looked at the gap, silent.
The talent of body refining is indeed much stronger than that of qi refining.
He was thinking about his follow-up plan - it was time to start tempering his spine, sternum and skull. That was the real difficulty - something started to shine in his waist Storage Bag.
It is a jade talisman for communication.
He took it out, and the patterns on the surface of the jade talisman were flowing. Li Yun's voice came from inside, crisp and a little urgent:
"Big guy! The mission is confirmed. Let's meet at the mission pavilion tomorrow morning."
The sound stopped and the light of the jade talisman went out.
Qin Tiexin held the jade talisman and was stunned.
Big guy?
Are you calling him?
He looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was already in the west. Calculating the days, there were less than ten days until the end of the month, so the time for the mission was just right.
He took back the jade charm Storage Bag and walked into the house.
On the table, Lin Feng's sword lay quietly. He walked over, wiped it carefully with a cloth, rewrapped it, and put it back in Storage Bag.
Then blow out the candles.
In the darkness, he opened his eyes and listened to his own heartbeat.
Tomorrow, it's time to go out.